Doppelganger
by BlueSmerf
Summary: When a crazed chief comes to Berk, he comes with bad intentions. He goes after Ruffnut, believing younger twins are evil entities. Can Ruffnut's friends save her before it's too late? Sucky summary, I know.
1. Chapter 1

Doppelganger

**A/N: This is my first story so please, don't completely hate it.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own How to Train Your Dragon...sorry.**

It was a busy day on Berk. Everyone ran around, decorating their houses, washing their dragons, dressing up their children. Some even combed their hair! Everything had to be perfect, for a VERY important guest was going to be arriving soon. Hiccup looked at his father, rather confused about all the commotion.

"But dad...Isn't it going to be like all the other visits we get? The chief comes, you discuss, he eats, he leaves." Hiccup asked Stoic, his green eyes following vikings as they rushed about.

"No...it isn't going to be anything like the other times...this man is more important, his power trumps mine by a huge amount," Stoic said in slight disdain, "We must make sure his stay is not disturbed by anything and he must feel only happiness when he's here. He is also meeting you and your friends, he said he wanted to see the heroes himself."

Hiccup nodded thoughtfully, starting to understand why everyone was so panicked. They had never been in the presence of a chief more powerful than Stoic. Jorgenson clansmen were bringing in more firewood for the bonfire, while Ingerman clansmen were hunting tonight dinner. Thorston clansmen were reigning in the dragons to get them positioned in the stables. Hofferson and Haddock clansmen were working together to repair houses and clean up the pathways.

Suddenly, as if time had stopped, everyone froze. A deep horn sounded in the distance, and out in the ocean was a large wooden boat, heading for Berk. Hiccup looked up at his father and saw that his stance was as rigid as ice. Everyone on Berk literally dropped what they were doing and ran into their houses. Their guest didn't like to have crowds when meeting another chief.

Finally, the giant, floating fortress stopped at the docks. Slowly a wooden bridge opened at the bottom of the boat and landed softly on the dock. A man slowly walked out of the darkness. He had dark brunette hair with a goatee stubbing out at the bottom of his chin. This strange man had medium height and a large build. He slowly walked off the boat with slow thunderous steps and an emotionless look in his blood red eyes.

"Hello, Hendorous the Horrible. I'm Stoic, leader of Berk." Stoic greeted the man.

"I know that. If you weren't the chief, why would I waste my time talking to you?" Hendorous accused cruelly. Hiccup looked in surprise from the crack in the door. His father shoved him inside when the horn sounded.

Stoic chuckled quietly and then asked, "What do you wish we do first? Have a feast? Discuss the battle pla-"

"I wish to see the heroes of Berk. All six of them," Hendorous interrupted rudely, "And do make it quick."

Stoic nodded then whispered to his son to gather up his friends immediately. Hiccup had a bad feeling about this man but ran off any way to help his father. Hiccup first found Astrid, who was still cleaning up in the street. Then Snotlout, who didn't even know what was happening. He found Fishlegs, hiding behind his house. Finally, Hiccup arrived at the Thorston house. He knocked on the door twice, with his three friends in the background shouting for the twins to open up.

Suddenly, the door flew open, revealing Ruffnut and Tuffnut. "What?" Tuffnut asked grumpily. "You need to come with us to the arena. The chief of Icelberg is here, he wants to meet us."

The twins rolled their eyes and followed the group. Soon they all arrived at the arena. Vikings gathered all along the top, looking down with wide eyes at Hendorous. The teens gulped and scurried down to the gate of the arena. The gate opened slowly and the heroes walked through with nervous expressions.

They lined up in a row and turned their gazes to the ground. "Well, I have to admit I was expecting more." Hendorous chuckled. Stoic walked down the row introducing all of them. "This is Hiccup, he was the first to introduce us to training dragons." Hendorous nodded to him and continued walking. This continued until he got to the twins.

"And these are our set of twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut." The second Stoic said twins, Hendorous's eyes narrowed. "Which one is the youngest?" He whispered menacingly. "Ruffnut, the girl sir." Stoic muttered back, not liking the where this was going.

"Come forward, girl!" Hendorous roared. Ruffnut looked between Stoic and Hendorous uncertainly, but walked forward anyways. "How much younger are you, witch?" Hendorous asked angrily. "Ten minutes," Ruffnut answered quietly.

Tuffnut looked nervously at his sister, wondering under what circumstances he had to call her a witch. Ruffnut often made fun of witchcraft, about how old women had just too many pints at the bar.

"Fairly younger, but still evil. Why do you plague the earth with your existence?" Hendorous asked, his red eyes studying Ruffnut's every feature. "Hendorous, I do not understand. What did she do for you to proclaim her evil?" Stoic asked, coming to Ruffnut's rescue.

Hendorous gave Stoic a sympathetic look. "It's okay, Stoic. Doppelgangers are sneaky monsters, who pray on innocent people of civilized villages." At this everyone looked at Hendorous confused. "Good people of Berk, for those who don't know, Doppelgangers come into this world to follow poor souls around and take their energy, like this poor young man," He gestured to Tuffnut then continued, "These poor people, call these...these..._creatures _their twin! Brothers! _Sisters." _He growled.

Everyone was shocked. Everyone, except Ruffnut. Ruffnut was just very confused and slightly scared. Stoic stepped in front of her and said, "I understand you want to protect everyone, Hendorous. But don't you think this is a little much?"

Hendorous sneered at him and grabbed Ruffnut's wrist holding it up. "You fools don't even know what's lurking in your own village! Scoundrel like this need to be locked up! The world shouldn't have to see such horrible beasts!"

All of the teens' shock quickly turned to anger. They all looked to Stoic, their eyes silently begging him to do something. Anything! But Stoic simply didn't know what do to. That is, until Hendorous started to tug Ruffnut out of the arena.

"Hendorous! I can't allow you to take my people! Especially a child! She has committed no crimes against you!"

Hendorous stopped, turned, and looked at Stoic. His eyes were full of hatred and disgust. He then looked at Ruffnut, who was scratching and tugging his hand, trying to free herself. Hendorous then turned back to start walking again, but stopped at the giant wall of vikings in front of him. In front, were Ruffnut's and Tuffnut's parents.

"Let go of her you wackjob!"

"Take a hike you buffoon!"

"Don't you dare take another step, monster!"

Insults and threats rained down on Hendorous. Finally, he screamed, "ENOUGH!" His voice echoed through the island, everything went dead silent. Hendorous threw Ruffnut to the ground, then put two fingers to his lips then whistled. Suddenly, a huge roar tore through the sky. A giant golden dragon with red eyes landed before Hendorous. It's black teeth dripping with venom.

"You may have won this time. But don't you worry, I will rid your island of this vermin once and for all!" Hendorous declared and with that he flew into the sky. Leaving a scared Ruffnut and several shocked vikings behind.

**A/N: Yea so, I know this isn't that good. But just one review is all that it will take for me to update. So please review! And you'll get a cookie!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! I think this story will be a pretty long one. I'm planning on a lot of stuff happening so, PREPARE YOURSELVES!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own How to Train Your Dragon :'(**

* * *

Everyone stood frozen in the arena. They waited until the horrible dragon's roar disappeared from the sky. They waited until the flap of wings was no longer heard. It was as if the Earth stood still, like time had stopped completely.

Suddenly, Stoic straightened his back and yelled, "Everyone to the Mead Hall, now!" Causing every adult viking to look back down at him and scurry away from the door. Hiccup shook his head, trying to work what his father said past the million questions in his mind. He looked back at his friends, each had different emotions. Astrid had anger written all over her face, the stupid man bursting into their village and accusing one of THEIR people of being evil. Snotlout had a look of major confusion on his face, in what way are younger twins evil? Fishlegs was shaking like a toddler going through his first thunderstorm. Tuffnut had a look of pure concern as he knelt down next to his sister, telling her that Hendorous was just some crazy old guy. But what shocked Hiccup the most was Ruffnut.

Ruffnut was staring at the sky, in the direction the dragon headed in. Her wide eyes held a blank stare, her mouth in the shape of a small frown. Her eyebrows were knit together in confusion and worry. By now, the six teens were the only ones in the arena by now. Hiccup cleared his throat causing everyone to look at him.

"Come on, guys. The faster we get to the Mead Hall, the sooner we figure out what to do." Ruffnut suddenly shot up from her spot on the ground and said, "Y-yeah guys, we need to figure out what that psycho is trying to do." Without another word, Ruffnut walked away from the group and out the open gate.

The rest of the gang blinked, then raced after Ruffnut. They all knew she was freaked out by that Hendorous guy, she was just too proud to admit it. Little did they know, they were being watched.

* * *

When they arrived in the Mead Hall, everyone was bunch up together around Stoic, who was seated at a large table. Everyone was trying to talk over each other, questions flew around the room like dragons. Tension filled in the room as people got more panicked, worry and confusion covered everyone's faces.

"What's he going to do?"

"Is he going to turn everyone against us?"

"What if he sends men to the island?"

"How many dragons will he attack us with?"

"What if he sends a bunch of those gold ones here? We'd be dead in minutes!"

Questions and assumptions filled Stoic's ears. His eyes only saw faces of horror. Out of all the voices in that Mead Hall, only one filled his ears, "Why does Hendorous think Ruffnut's evil, dad?" Hiccup asked in a small voice.

"QUIET!" Stoic bellowed, "I DON'T KNOW!" He sighed then sat down, feeling defeated that just one man could wreak all this havoc in his strong village. Everyone remained silent. No one dared to talk, they felt too shocked to move. Hiccup looked at his father in shock and also in sadness. His dad always knew what to do, ALWAYS.

"This is your fault!" roared Tuffnut Sr. holding Ruffnut up by the front of her shirt, "You brought this misery upon us! That mad man will keep at us until your dead! What do you have to say for yourself girl?" The horrible smell of alcohol leaked from his mouth.

"Enough!" Stoic yelled, "Thorston! Put her down this minute! I demand you leave this minute!"

Tuffnut Sr. dropped his daughter to the floor and stomped out of the Mead Hall, anger flashing in his gray eyes. Ruffnut stared the door her father just left out of, after what he just said, she believed all this was her fault. But come on, it's not her fault she came after Tuffnut.

"Now, everyone DO NOT panic. We have gotten into dangerous situations before. Just because we've made friends with the dragons, does NOT mean they are over," Stoic looked over at Ruffnut, who was being helped off the floor by Hiccup and Tuffnut, "This is also no one's fault. We are a tribe. A _family_. We must protect each other, no matter what the enemy. While battling Red Death, did we know what we were doing?" Everyone shook their head no, "Of course not! NO ONE DID! But we pulled through. We worked together, and that's what we need to do now. Prepare and protect each other from the worst, support each when we are injured. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT TRIBES DO!" He exclaimed victoriously.

The Mead Hall erupted in applause. Some were so moved that they cried tears of joy! Everyone cheered, all but Ruffnut. She still felt if it wasn't for her, they wouldn't be in this mess. She looked down at her hands, thinking about what was so different about her. Ruffnut had always been really thin. She was even thinner than Hiccup! Ruffnut always thought she was different, but ignored it the best she could. Her brother was often the favorite twin between the two. Ruffnut was often overlooked by her parents, being the younger twin she always felt a little less important.

Stoic saw Ruffnut's sad expression and walked over to her. She laid a giant hand on her shoulder and said, "Everyone has a purpose in this world. Just because they're different, doesn't mean they're useless." At this last part, Stoic smiled at his son then turned back to Ruffnut, "Think of how boring the world would be if we were all the same." Upon thinking about this, Stoic earned a joyful laugh from Ruffnut. And with that small laugh, the entire hall seemed to brighten even more. But no one knew of the great horror about to happen that night.

* * *

Hiccup and his friends met up in the middle of the village that night. They were on late night guard duty, no one was nervous though. Ruffnut was even cracking jokes again and everyone was smiling and laughing. All of the dragons were there too, Toothless stood next to Hiccup growling joyfully. Hookfang was standing protectively behind Snotlout and Meatlug somehow fell asleep next to Fishlegs. Stormfly stood next to Astrid, occasionally rubbing her head on Astrid's arm. Hatch n Scratch, Ruffnut's and Tuffnut's Zippleback, placed their heads on their owners' heads.

Everything was fine. The teens climbed onto their dragons and lifted off into the sky. Astrid covered the left side of the island and Snotlout covered the right. Fishlegs was assigned the forest since nothing ever happened there. Hiccup covered the main village area, making sure there no thieves, drunks, or anything like that. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were assigned the docks.

When the twins finally got to the docks, Ruffnut immediately fell silent. She no longer laughed or joked, just listed. The darkness from the night sky fell over Berk like a shadow, like a giant walking in front of the sun and not intending to move until morning. The moon was full and mysterious, casting a strange white glow on the docks.

"Hey Ruff, you okay?" Tuffnut asked. Ruffnut jumped at the sound of his voice, "I'm fine. Just waiting for this shift to be over. _I'm tired_." She whined. Tuffnut chuckled, at least she was calming down. Suddenly, a ball of fire came from the distance and stopped directly over the village. Ruff and Tuff held their breathes, waiting to it to do something, _anything_. The suspension was killing them!

Then, in the distance came a another fire ball, and another, and another! By the time they stopped coming there were twenty fire balls directly over Berk. "Guys! What's happening?" Hiccup yelled, the rest of the group following behind him, "Guys! You're supposed to make sure nothing happens!" Astrid berated them. The twins were too shocked to care. Ruffnut was holding her breath, and Tuffnut's eyes were darting between the fire balls and his sister.

Hiccup squinted up at the flames above them and saw...dragons inside them! The same type of dragon that took Hendorous away earlier! He really did it...Hendorous really sent dragons to capture Ruffnut. In the blink of an eye, the fire around the dragons extinguished. There were riders on the dragons! They were wearing strange black suits, that looked like they were made from Toothless's scales.

"Flunda oflina ABLIVIA!" One rider screamed, in a murderous tone. Horrifyingly, the gold dragons started shooting purple flames that exploded once they touched the roofs of the houses. Vikings came pouring out into the streets, many of the women were carrying small, crying children.

"Tuffnut! Get Ruffnut out of here now!" Hiccup screamed. He was too late, the twins were a few hundred feet away from the dock and were surrounded by more gold dragons. But in front of them was the biggest of them all, Hendorous riding his monstrous dragon. They were completely trapped.

"Now you will be taken away, demon!" Hendorous roared at Ruffnut, "And you shall never come back!" Just as he was about to shoot at them, Hatch n Scratch shot up into the sky. He then flipped and flew near the docks.

With Hiccup, he pivoting all around, shooting at gold dragons and protecting the people of Berk. Suddenly, he heard a scream, "RUFFNUT!" Hiccup twirled around and what he saw was horrifying. Ruffnut entangled in a net and plummeting towards the ocean. Hatch n Scratch tried fly downwards to save her but Hendorous snatched her up first. The monster held the net between it's claws while Ruffnut dangled inside of it. All of the gold dragons stopped attacking the village and flew behind Hendorous. They all flashed evil smiles to the terrified vikings below.

"You showed be thanking me you know," Hendorous said to Tuffnut in a content tone, "You won't have to deal with this bother in your life ever again. She shall be punish and when she is used up, we shall get rid of her once and for all."

"My _sister,_" Tuffnut growled, "Is the most important person in my life. And nothing you do or say will change that. Now, GIVE HER BACK." Hatch n Scratch both prepared to shoot. Astrid gave Hendorous an evil glare and the thorns on her dragon shot up. Toothless bared his teeth, while Hiccup held up his knife. Snotlout had a murderous look on his face as his dragon gained fire in it's mouth and Meatlug began chewing rocks to produce lava.

"You shoot, I kill the girl." Hendorous sneered. His dragon's head bent down next to Ruffnut and showed it's massive black teeth. Purple venom dripped off it's teeth as it growled and snarled. Ruffnut whimpered slightly and tried to lean away from the dragon.

The teens' faces softened as their dragons drew down their attacks. "Pleasure doing business with you." Hendorous smirked and said, "Nocato qui mo tosha." Suddenly, all the riders laughed and the gold dragons flashed a blinding light.

When their vision cleared, all Hiccup and his friends saw were disappearing shadows and a net dangling down from one of the dragons.

"We will find you, Ruffnut. I promise." Hiccup whispered as the shadows disappeared.

* * *

**A/N: DUN! DUN! DA! What shall happen next? You will have to review in order to find out. Just one and I'll continue!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It's ME! What's up? This is a sort of late update, but you know...life happens. I was reading your reviews and I have to say...THANK YOU! Now on with the story...WARNING: THIS CHAPTER HAS SLIGHT VIOLENCE!**

**Disclaimer: No HTTYD for me!... :'(**

* * *

Ruffnut watched sadly as her home disappeared into the distance. What will happen to her now? Hendorous was probably the most powerful leaders in the world, he had pretty much every island wrapped around his finger. She looked up at the monster carrying her. The dragon's stomach was a pale yellow, contrasting greatly to the rest of it's golden body. It's black teeth stuck out of it's top lip slightly, toxic venom on the running slightly down the razor sharp fangs.

"Don't worry, demon," Hendorous sneered, "You will not die _the second _we get to the camp. You need to be punished first." Ruffnut looked at him horrified. Did this man have no heart at all? She should have probably figured that out when he trapped her, but better later then never. Ruffnut saw what seemed to be a shoreline approaching quickly, she already saw the black smoke two miles away.

* * *

Hiccup landed on the ground just to be bombarded with questions, "Where have they taken her?"

"What are they going to do?"

"I told you the golden dragons would come!" Okay, that one didn't really qualify as a question.

"Why have they gone through so much just to take one girl?"

"Everyone quiet!" Stoic growled, shoving his way through the crowd, "Everything will be fine! Ruffnut will return to us, but standing around here asking questions will not help us!"

The sound of house burning in the background could be heard as everyone turned silent. They did not have enough warriors to be able to handle Hendorous's impressive army. Hiccup got an idea, if just he, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut went, then they would have a small enough group not to be easily detected. But also a big enough to be able to protect each other if disaster were to strike!

"Dad! If Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and I all go we would be able to get Ruffnut. We're small enough to be hard to track, but can also have each others backs." Stoic looked skeptical. His son and four friends going up against the most powerful man in the world? Well, that didn't sound very assuring. But, if he were to send search parties and militia out, then they would be slaughtered.

"Okay, son...just...be careful." Stoic said, with an unsure look on his face. Hiccup smiled up at his father, "I will, dad. Promise. Okay, guys. Let's get going, Ruffnut's waiting for us!" He said, turning back to Toothless and the gang. Everyone was already mounted on their dragons. Hiccup climbed up on Toothless, waved goodbye to his dad, then lifted off. His friends right behind him. As they flew away, they tried to prepare themselves for whatever awaited them when they arrived.

* * *

Hendorous's dragon hovered for a moment, dropped Ruffnut on the ground, then gently landed behind her. Ruffnut looked to find she had at least twenty spears pointed in her direction. This was not Icelberg. Icelberg had snow covering every inch, and mountains as far as the eye can see! This land had only fire and ash laying on it's ground, the sky not even visible above the black smoke.

"Cloric ensaba dorlida. Mosoto cata retio yo." Hendorous said to the riders. They reached down pulling Ruffnut up by her hair, slapping shackles onto her wrists and ankles. They also a chain around her neck and tugged her forward. Ruffnut had never felt so humiliated in her life. But she didn't dare say anything, she saw few hundred feet away, bodies being thrown into ditches. Discarded without even a proper burial. Ruffnut jerked to a stop, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Mataka! Lo gioi le mono retakato!" The riders' leader yelled, pointing at Ruffnut. Suddenly, as if appearing out of thin air, a man with a thick black whip appeared. He raised it high above his had and brought down right right across Ruffnut's chest. She screamed, tears pouring down her face. No one helped, no one cared. These were not people, they never were people. They're monsters.

* * *

The teens were still flying above the ocean. The dragons had begun to grow tired from the long journey and they were approaching a small island. It seemed like the only thing living there was plants, so they landed their dragons there for the night. The sun had already begun setting over the horizon, the sky was made up of blues, reds, yellows, and pinks. The sun burned a hot orange into the sky.

"Guess we'd better set up camp," Hiccup muttered to Toothless, who snorted in reply, "Okay, so...we wants to get the firewood?"

"I do!" Snotlout yelled, "I can carry twenty times my weight, you know." He added seductively to Astrid.

"There wouldn't even be enough wood to weigh twice as much as you do. Let alone twenty times the size of you." Astrid replied, not in the mood for his flirting. Snotlout turned and walked into the thick forest, grumbling to himself the entire way.

"Okay, then...Fishlegs! You wanna try to catch dinner?" Hiccup asked, throwing him a fishing pole from the bag.

"S-sure, why not? Although the statistics of me catching a fish to feed all of us is a twenty-seven to-"

"Please, just do it." Tuffnut whined. Fishlegs nodded and scurried off to the edge of the shore. After ten tries, he finally got the line out to sea. Snotlout came huffing and puffing out of the woods, carrying five large branch like sticks and twelve small sticks. Tuffnut started the fire with two rocks while Astrid and Hiccup built a bracket to put the fish on. Fishlegs, however, was having little success trying to catch any fish. The other teens looked irritatedly at him as he repeatedly dropped the pole into the water.

"I'll go find some berries." Astrid sighed, she was _way_ too tired for this. Tuffnut had taken out his knife and was sharpening the end of a branch, making it look like a spear. Snotlout was complaining about how hot he was and kept mentioning how odd it was for them to run into a completely uninhabited island. Hiccup just sat on the sand leaning against Toothless, pretending to listen.

"Okay, I can't find any berries that aren't super poisonous." Astrid said, slumping her shoulders in defeat. She sat down next to Hiccup and gave Toothless a pat on the head. All of the other dragons were sleeping behind their owners, except Meatlug who kept trying to see what Fishlegs was doing.

"Hey guys, I think I got something." Fishlegs yelled, and he pulled a medium sized fish from the ocean. All the teens had huge smiles on their faces...that is, until Meatlug ate it.

"I'm gonna go check if there's anything in the bags." Tuffnut said, then walked over to Hatch n Scratch. He rifled through his bag, only finding a map, extra clothes, some pencils, and a blanket. He went through everyone else's bag, finding similar things. But, no food. Tuffnut sighed and was about to walk back, when he remembered. There _was_ another bag he could check, but whenever he tried to look inside, he got punched in the nose and yelled at.

Cautiously, Tuffnut walked back up to Hatch n Scratch and reached for Ruffnut's bag this time. Slowly he grabbed and paused as he was about to undo the hatch, almost expecting Ruffnut's voice to come from behind him screaming, "What, in gods' names, are you doing?" Sighing, deciding it would never come, he opened the pack and peered inside. There was an old blanket, some paper, pencils, extra clothes, and, just as Tuffnut was about to put the bag away, he found jerky! Right inside a small pocket!

"I love you, Ruffnut!" Tuffnut exclaimed, grabbing all the jerky. As he was about to go back, something caught his eye. A small journal with big letters on the front saying, "Property of Ruffnut. You touch, you die." Just as Tuffnut reached into grab it when-

"Hey, Tuff! Find anything!" Astrid yelled, laying back on her dragon. Hatch n Scratch sniffed Ruffnut's bag and whined. The two heads looked at Tuffnut, almost as if asking him, "Do you want us to help you?"

"Go back to sleep, boy. We gotta get up early tomorrow." Tuffnut said, sighing and standing up. The heads nodded and laid down on the ground. Tuffnut walked back to the group and gave everyone a piece of jerky. It wasn't much, but it was something. After that they stayed up for a while to talk. Finally, Snotlout cut right to the chase.

"So fishbone, how do you plan we find and save Ruffnut without getting killed?"

Everyone looked at Hiccup expectingly, Tuffnut looking the most desperate. They were going up against Hendorous the Horrible. The man with all the weapons, dragons, and warriors. How _were_ they going to do this? All they had were their backpacks and five dragons. Icelberg was very far, at the rate their dragons are going they'll get there in only a few minutes. Not at all enough time to prepare, and it's doubtful Hendorous takes prisoners.

"Well...I don't know." Hiccup muttered, looking down at his hands. His head then snapped back up, "Maybe if we fly there at night, it will be harder to find our dragons! Then we swoop down, trap Hendorous, and demand Ruffnut back!" Everyone stared at Hiccup , giving him blank stares, "Okay, well you try thinking of something! I don't have _all_ the answers!" The other teens deflated, agreeing with Hiccup that was probably their only shot. They put out the fire, then went and laid by their dragons. Curling against them for warmth.

Once everyone was asleep, Tuffnut sat up and reached for Ruffnut's bag. He pulled out her old blanket and wrapped it around himself, knowing perfectly well he had his own in his pack. Hatch n Scratch grunted irritably at him and Tuffnut turned and whispered, "It won't fit you." He was about to lay down once again but the same journal was staring up at him. The brown pages just waiting to be opened and read, the warning on the cover just taunting him.

Tuffnut couldn't take it any more, he opened the pack and was about to open the book when-

"What do you think your doing?"

* * *

**A/N: Oh crap! What shall happen next? Review and I'll tell you! BlueSmerf out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yea...I'm an ass. But hey, I got the chapter here and now that's it's summer break, I got enough time to write all the chapters you guys want! I'm sorry for such a long wait, finals suck balls. Anyway, ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer:...No Comment**

* * *

Tuffnut jerked up and hid the journal behind his back. He turned to find Astrid standing behind him, hands firmly on her hips. Her blues eyes seemed to glow through the darkness as she said, "What in Odin's name do you think your doing?"

"Why do you care? I was just putting it and besides, last time I checked you weren't exactly 'buddy-buddy' with Ruffnut." Tuffnut said defensively, he was _so_ close.

"I care because even if we don't always agree, I still consider her a friend. She's the only other girl on the island who's our age, who else could I talk to about 'things'. Anyway, just because Ruffnut's not here doesn't mean she won't tear your balls off she knows you read her diary...journal...thing." Astrid finished lamely.

Tuffnut just snorted and replied, "Who said she would ever find out, that is, if I _was_ reading her journal which I'm not."

Astrid rolled her eyes and walked away huffing about his 'immaturity'. Tuffnut snorted and was about to open the journal again, but stopped when he thought about Astrid's words. It wouldn't be half as fun anyways without the suspense of getting caught, man it really _was_ boring without Ruffnut around. Sighing, Tuffnut put the journal away and turned over to be caught in a restless sleep.

* * *

Ruffnut was thrown into a large metal cage, it was at the end of a long hallway of cages. They were only separated by some rusty bars while the bars that contained them from the outside were pristine, steel. Ruffnut unsteadily stood up only to fall down once again, her body was too drained to do anything. The gash across her chest was bleeding steadily down the prison uniform they shoved her in. Shackles were locked around her ankles, wrists, and neck.

"Buonanotte." The guard sneered. He slowly marched back to the heavy wooden doors and slammed them shut. All of the prisoners hard a click of a lock.

"Damn them." An old man muttered from down the hall, "Damn them all. We're not animals, we're people just like everyone else on this hellhole we call a planet. They beat us and lock us up, and for what reason?"

"Because we're different," The woman across the hall from Ruffnut growled, "It is not our fault we were born second or that we were even born at all. Hendorous is doing this because of his twin."

"What? If he has a twin then why would he be doing this?" Ruffnut asked, perched up on her elbows. The woman and a few others gave Ruffnut sympathetic looks.

"Well, you are going to find out eventually. Better now then never I suppose..." The woman trailed off.

The old man who had first spoken said, "Well, my name is Skullrider. And yes, Screech is right, you should be told the story before anything else is done. I have to tell it quick, for they will be back soon for you."

"Many years ago, back in Icelberg, twins were born. One with horrible red eyes and slick black hair. The other with bright violet eyes and dark blond hair. The two were very well loved, the village showered the parents with praise and gifts. The first twin was adventurous and curious, he had a fascination with death. The boy's name was Hendorous. The younger twin was shy and quiet, she drew many pictures of the mountains on Icelberg. She ran through out the village, often watching children for the parents on the island. The girl's name Pangaea. Hendorous held much disdain for his sister, for the people of Icelberg seemed to favor her over her brother. The chief decided that Hendorous and his sister would rule Icelberg together, until one of them had a child.

A few years later, Pangaea gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. His name Frostbite from his white hair and electric blue eyes. The village rejoiced at the announcement of the new baby. All but one. Hendorous hated the new child, for he would be the one to succeed him in the future. Hendorous thought since he was the elder twin, he such of had the child to succeed him. Pangaea later became very ill, her body had grown too weak from the birth of her baby. Frostbite was told to stay with Hendorous until his mother got better. Hendorous began to raise the child as his own, claiming his sister never existed and he was his true father.

Pangaea had gotten better and tried to visit Frostbite, but the boy had no memory of her. He decided to spend the day with this strange woman, seeing as she knew a lot about him. Hendorous went to the village's elder to ask about his son's future. She foretold his son would return to Pangaea and he would be killed by a second born twin. But she never could have foretold what came next..."

At that moment, the wooden doors opened to reveal two guards. They stomped down the hall and stopped in front of Ruffnut's cage. She lifted her head and stared into their soulless, gray eyes. One of them slowly opened the cage as the other went in and picked up Ruffnut from the ground. He pushed her out and she surprisingly landed on her feet without falling.

"Seguimi." the guard ordered and began walking. Ruffnut stumbled behind him, guessing that meant follow or something. The other prisoners gave her encouraging looks as she walked by.

"Don't let them break you. We will all fight, together." Skullrider whispered to her. Ruffnut nodded slowly and offered a small smile.

As she got outside, she couldn't believe the horrors there. People that looked like skeletons carried rocks bigger than her head, guards dragging bodies of men, women, and children to piles. It was a nightmare.

"Can you guys speak Norse at all?" Ruffnut asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Silenzio!" The other guard barked from behind her.

"I'm guessing that's a no..."

They shoved Ruffnut into an old looking building and closed the door. She looked across the room to see Hendorous and a big man in front of a stool.

"It's time for you to be formally introduced into Distruzione. You see, if you do your fair share of work and don't complain, life can be fairly comfortable here," Hendorous explained, "Working means food and water, but slacking off means another body for the burn pile."

Ruffnut flinched as Hendorous laughed. The big man grabbed Ruffnut's arm and threw her onto the stool. He took out a large pair of shears and held them to her hair.

"First, you need the proper appearance." Hendorous sneered. He then snapped his fingers and the man began to chop off Ruffnut's hair. Tears of humiliation and sadness filled Ruff's eyes as she watched her hair fall to the ground. When the man was done he walked away to go find something, as he did so Hendorous walked up to Ruffnut and whispered, "You have tears in your eyes because you know you deserve this. Ruining your poor _brother's _life."

"Master, what number shall this prisoner receive?" The man grunted. He eyed Ruffnut with malice and a hint of...curiosity? Not once had he seen a woman not cry when her hair was cut, the numbering will surely have her bawling.

"Hm...She looks like a 70036 to me. Don't you think, Striker?" Hendorous asked the man sarcastically.

"Yes, sir." Striker said, saluting him. Striker pulled out the long needle, dabbed it in red ink, and dung it into Ruffnut's skin. Ruffnut held in a scream as the man brutally dug into her skin, she was bleeding by the time they got the last number in. Striker smeared it away to show the number to Hendorous.

"It looks beautiful. Too bad it has to be on that." Hendorous spat, he then turned and disappeared into the shadows. Striker turned to Ruffnut and asked in a confused manner, "Why do you not cry? We've taken everything, your family, your tribe, her hair, even your name."

"I learned a long time ago crying doesn't solve anything. Besides, that's just what he wanted me to do." Ruffnut muttered, her eyes down casted to the floor.

Striker held a surprised expression on his face, even as the guards left with Ruffnut out the door. Striker was never spoken to in that way before and it surprised him. But the thing was...is was a _good_ surprise.

Ruffnut laid on the cell floor of her cage until the guards slammed the door. Then she crawled to the corner of her cage and curled into a ball. Her head popped up when she thought of something, then she called down the hall.

"Skullrider...Could you finish the story now?" Her voice rasped through the bars.

"Well, they won't be back till morning so I suppose...Anyways, after the Hendorous heard this, he thought of the only younger twin in his village able to defeat him. That night, a dangerous storm raged in the sky. Frostbite stayed with Pangaea, unable to return home in the rain. They were sitting in front of the fire, reading stories of viking legends, when the door exploded off it's hinges. Hendorous clambered in, his weapon was a tooth from his dragon. The tooth secreted poison from the tip. Pangaea begged for Hendorous to spare Frostbite and herself. Hendorous claimed her to be pathetic and unworthy to live, and with that he thrusted the tooth into her heart. He claimed to the village Frostbite killed Pangaea and Frostbite was shipped off on a small mast. To this day he was never found...Hendorous believes younger twins are evil because he claimed his sister tried to steal his throne."

"How do you know all of this?" Ruffnut asked. Skullrider bowed his head and said, "I lived on Icelberg at one point. I was traveling the world with my brother and had spoken to the elder. She told me the devil will catch, but if I find the strength I will survive."

The doors opened again and the guards dragged in a small boy. He already got his head shaved and his number. The guards were talking to each other, it looked like they were discussing what to do with the boy.

"Non ci sono gabbie sinistra. Ora che cosa?" One of the guards asked. The other guard thought, then looked in Ruffnut's direction.

"Mettetelo dentro con il nuovo prigioniero. E 'abbastanza piccola." The guard said. He opened Ruffnut's cage and threw the boy in. The boy looked at the guards, whimpered, and ran towards Ruffnut. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her chest. Ruffnut guessed he was about six years old.

"Patetico." The guards whispered in unison, then stalked away. The boy slowly looked up at Ruffnut, fear and caution filled his eyes as tears ran down his face.

"What's your name?" Ruffnut asked, as gently as she possibly could.

"My name is Patch..." The boy mumbled. Ruffnut quirked an eyebrow and giggled, "Why do they call you that?"

"Because I, um, have this birthmark that, um, looks like a patch." The five year old said with a toothy smile. He hopped up and lifted his top to show off a little square shape mark that looked like it was stitched on.

"Wow! That's pretty neat. You even got little stiches around it. You, sir, are one awesome kid." Ruffnut said, playfully poked the child's chest.

"What's your name?" Patch asked in curiousity.

"My name is Ruffnut." Ruffnut said, holding out her hand for him to shake. Patch took her hand and shook it up and down vigorously. The little boy then looked down and really quietly he asked, "How long have you been here?"

"Only one hour before you came..." Ruffnut trailed off. Patch sat beside her and looked up into her eyes.

"Why did they take us?" Patch asked. The tears once again started to gather in his eyes.

"We don't always know why people do why they do," Ruffnut said, "These people though, took us for a selfish reason. They took us because we are special, because we are awesome." This made Patch giggle and he asked, "Why would they take us if we're awesome?"

"Well, we are all twins. We all came second, my parents said that I was a surprise. Hendorous thinks we are all mistakes, we were not meant to be born. Where I'm from, that's what everyone used to think about the chief's son. But, do you know what he did?" Ruffnut asked. Patch leaned in and asked, "What?"

"He defeated the largest dragon on the face of the planet...by blowing him UP!" Ruffnut yelled, tickling Patch's stomach. The little boy squirmed with laughter, the other prisoners looked on with small smiles. There hadn't been any happiness in here for a LONG time, except for Hendorous's sickening glee at their suffering.

* * *

Hiccup woke up to a loud grumble and looked up to see Toothless looking at him a hint of curiousity in his eyes. Hiccup yawned and sat up to see if the others were still up, Tuffnut was sleeping on his Zippleback's belly, Astrid was curled under Stormfly's wing, Snotlout was snoring loudly while hugging his dragon, and Fishlegs was asleep while his dragon slept on top of him.

Hiccup looked back at Tuffnut to find he was clutching something around him tightly. He squinted to find Tuffnut was curled under Ruffnut's blanket. Hiccup was visibly confused, didn't Tuff have his own blanket. Oh well, he'll worry about that later, right now he needs to find the shortest route to Icelberg. He pulled out the map his father gave and searched for the island him and his friends were on.

"That's weird..." Hiccup said, "I can't find it anywhere. All it has on here is Berk and Icelberg." He began talking to himself very quickly, "Okay...If we started from this shoreline and continued for about...one, two, three...five miles then we would be about here. And..um, let's see...Then it would take us about...um...one, two, three, four...um...I'm pretty sure it would be six hours before we reached Icelberg. After three hours we'll take a break and continue on. Perfect!"

He turned to find everyone fully awake and looking at him with blank stares that just said, "Okay, what the hell did you say and should we be concerned?"

"Why do you guys always look at me like that?"

"Force of habit." Astrid immediately answered. Hiccup quickly explained what they were going to do for that day and with Snotlout's, "Fuck yeah!" They were off!

After three hours of just flying, plus not having anything to eat, the dragons exhausted tried to keep going. They could see the shore of Icelberg from there and there were no islands to stop and rest on. Eventually the dragons dipped down and just swam to Icelberg when the were close enough. The dragons flopped onto the sand as the teenagers looked up to find an old woman staring at them.

"Please, ma'am. We've come to-"

"I know why you're here." The woman cut Hiccup off, "And you are too late. Just like the others." The woman turned to Tuffnut, "You're looking for your sister aren't you."

"How did you know?" Tuffnut asked wearily. Who did this woman think she is anyway? He got a dreaded feeling that-

"You've come to the wong place. I know because I know of your legend. How Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and his friend stoicly defeated the Red Death. Part of the group was a pair of twins, both with long blond hair. The boy with platinum eyes and the girl with dark blue. You, my dear boy, fit that discription exactly and, as I can see, your sister is no where in sight."

"You just got pwned by an old woman dude." Snotlout whispered to Tuff. He was answered with a slap to the face.

"What do you mean, like the others?" Astrid asked.

"Do you really believe Hendorous only hated your twin. He's finding every younger twin he can possibly find and sending them to a huge torture camp. Where he is killing them off slowly. One by one." The woman eerily whispered. Fishlegs yelped and nervously said, "You know what, I think I'm just wait by the dragons." Snotlout tripped him as he tried to scurry away.

"What do you mean? On what right does he have to kill them?" Hiccup yelled. What if they were already too late to save Ruffnut? What if she had been killed the second Hendorous was out of sight?

"He is trying to stop his profisy from coming true. I had foretold he would be defeated by a younger twin. First he killed his sister, now he's going after the rest of the twins. His sister, poor dear, she always tried to help Hendorous. Like a mother with a confused child...But, Hendorous's heart held no kindness. Only hatred for his sister, even before I told him his destiny. He killed her, banished her son, and enslaved everyone on the island. He disappeared a long time ago, saying he would make sure no on would ruin his so called 'perfect' village. He left his child to rule over us while he is while he was gone. Bless that child, he demolished all of Hendorous's laws and promised to remain our cheif, even after Hendorous comes back." The woman told them, smiling for the first time they met her.

"Do you have any knowledge of where Hendorous is keeping the twins?" Hiccup asked, even just a little bit of a lead would make him more confident.

"They last few groups seemed to say they knew of another island Hendorous went to. Try going to Lavatria. It's a whole week of traveling, even on dragons. Come with me to get some supplies." The woman said, waddling over to an old looking hut. The teens followed wearily, still undecided on not trying to immediately fly to Lavatria.

When they entered the hut, there was travel supplies everywhere. You would think this woman lived in the middle of a thriving forest for crying out loud.

"You'll need fish for your dragons, food for yourselves, some hunting knives, and map." The woman gave Hiccup the supplies and gave him a toothless smile.

He grinned back at her and said, "Thank very much for helping us." The woman chuckled and said goodbye. The teens all clambered to their dragons and fed them. They were going to have to stay here, for the dragons were too tired to lift their heads. They eventually fell asleep that night, although it did take a few hours...

* * *

**A/N: Wow, that was such a crappy ending. I'm so sorry guys. I haven't been writing for a while because of some finals I had to finish a while ago...And I, pathetically, spent about six days thinking of this chapter. By the way, I made the guards speak italian. Just PM me for the translations. I hope this is good enough for now!**

**REVIEWS = MY CAT WONT EAT YOU! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So...yeah. I'm kinda horrible for making you guys wait for this long. A LOT has happened since I last talked to you guys. I got two new dogs, school has started up again (OH NOES!), and my dad is thinking of moving to Florida. My family and I aren't going, just my dad. That is, if he decides to go through with it. Anyway, I've been thinking of this for a long time and I've finally figured out what to write about in this chapter. (I should be doing homework right now but that would be not awesome.)**

**Disclaimer: Hehe...hehe...yea.**

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Ruffnut awoke to banging on the metal bars of the cell. She blinked her eyes slowly, her vision slowly clearing to see the angry face of a guard. The guard growled and muttered, "Risvegliare."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes and got up, bringing Patch up with her. The little boy trembled in front of the guards cold gray eyes and hid behind Ruffnut. The girl patted his head and lead him out of the cell and down the hall, behind the other prisoners. Hendorous stood at the opening of the long isle, his grinning growing with every new prisoner thrown out of their cage.

"Everyone up now. We need to take attendance, then you may have some delicious breakfast." Hendorous said, in a sickeningly fake voice. Skullrider grumbled to Ruffnut, "Our delicious breakfast is really just a soggy piece of bread and some green water they call soup."

Patch clung to Ruffnut's hand as the prisoners were marched out into the main area, they stood in lines and listened for their numbers to be called. As the minutes went past, Ruffnut began to squirm slightly where she stood. Soon, she heard, "70036!"

"Present!" She called out with a fake solute. She was so used to doing this when Gobber called her, that it was practically second nature now. Suddenly, a thick whip slashed across her chest, making her scar deeper then it already was. Ruffnut cried out and covered the wound protectively with her hands. She glared up at Hendorous, who flashed a sadistic smile and said, "Do try and control yourself. Not everyone can be as forgiving as me."

Ruffnut glared at the sinister man and stood back in line, closing her eyes in frustration. She knows if she looks at him any longer, she'll punch that stupid smile right off his face. Ruffnut sighed and tried to calm down and focus when she heard, "70040!"

Patch's body started to shake as he quickly called out, "I'm here!"

Hendorous looked at the child disapprovingly and continued down the line. Patch looked up at Ruffnut and whispered, "How'd I do?"

"Good job, little guy." Ruffnut said with a smirk. Patch smiled and held her hand once more, warily watching the man walking down the line.

When Hendorous finished, the line began to march to a tall, gray building. All four walls were solid rock and the roof was a heavy sheet of metal. Towards the top were thin slits the let in a bit of light. As the group stepped inside, they were greeted with an unpleasant view. The wooden tables were rotting and covered in moss. The chairs were even worse and could began stand by themselves, let alone support a Viking. In the corner was a slightly sturdier table that held two giant bowls and a big plate with a messy pile of moldy bread. Ruffnut and Patched walked over to the table, grabbed two slabs of wood as trays, and got some food. Inside the bowls, there was just boiled water and one or two pieces of broccoli floating in it.

Ruffnut carried their two trays to the table Patch led her to. Unsurprisingly, he led her to the very back corner, farthest from Hendorous. Not that Ruffnut minded, she would've picked this spot too. They slowly began to eat, neither talking because of the guards constantly walking around them.

Ruffnut knew this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Tuffnut was running through darkness, nothing but inky blackness for miles. Up ahead he heard his sister yelling, "Help! Someone help!"

"I'm comin', Ruff!" Tuffnut called, speeding up slightly. He finally began to see something, a floating blue light, twittering about in a panic. He slowed to a walk, no longer hearing his sister. The blue ball slowed and gently floated towards him, stopping three feet away. It slowly began to morph into a body, it was the same height as him by no. Wait...he knew who this was...It's Ruffnut!

But it was only the outline of her body, a thing line formed where a mouth would be. Tuffnut stared at the strange figure for a while before asking slowly, "Ruff? Is that you?"

"I was me..." His sister's voice muttered, though her figure remained motionless. Tuffnut quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What does that mean?"

The figure remained silent. Tuffnut began to get worried as Ruffnut's voice never sounded again.

"Ruffnut?"

As reached out to touch the figure there was a quick jab to his side and he sat up sweating and panting. Astrid was staring at him, slightly confused, as the rest of the group was saddling their dragons and packing the supplies.

"Nightmare about your sister?" A shaky, old voice asked. Tuffnut scrambled away, yelling, "Nyeh!" in surprise.

The elder chuckled and said, "How rude of me. I never told you all my name. It's Starfrost, just in case you kids need to contact me for some reason. Hiccup nodded with a smile and said, "Thank you again for all the help. We should probably start heading out."

"You could probably catch up to the other groups if you travel west." Starfrost said calmly. The gang got on their dragons, said their goodbyes and thanks, then flew west in hope of finding the other groups with the same goal.

Starfrost smiled sadly after them and turned back to her hut.

"Hopefully they'll handle what they discover..."

* * *

The line began to march to a giant, muddy ditch in the back of the main yard. The guard pointed to it and said, "Lavoro."

The group and began to jump into the ditch and began to dig and move rocks. Ruffnut didn't see a point to this, there was nothing in this type of soil that other tribes or villagers would find valueable. She stood for a moment unmoving then slowly walked over and plopped into the ditch, she turned and lifted Patch down so he wouldn't get hurt.

Tears gathered in Patch's eyes as looked up at her and said, "I don't know w-what to do..." Ruffnut looked around and said, "Um...It looks like they're just digging and moving rocks, so let's just do that, ok?"

"O-ok."

They began to work, slowly at first, but then increased pace as they began to get the hang of it. Four hours later, Ruffnut and Patch were sitting behind a few burly prisoners making mud castles when Hendorous came announced lunch. Prisoners scrambled up the sides of the ditch and to food court, guards whipping them as they passed. Ruffnut lifted Patch out first before climbing out herself, she picked up the small child and began to walk towards the gray building when she felt a slash cut across her back. She fell to her knees, biting her lip so she wouldn't scream. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction.

Ruffnut then popped up and ran full speed to the hall, protecting Patch from the whippes and yells. She finally dashed into the doors and to their table in the back. Ruffnut set Patch down to see he was staring her and crying.

"Hey, what's wrong, little guy?" Ruffnut asked, wincing from the pain of her cuts. Patch sniffled and said, "You got h-hurt, h-helping m-me."

Ruffnut snorted and said, "That's what you're sad about. Dude, I'm fine. I can handle a few cuts, besides, it's better me than you."

"B-but..."

"Come on, eat your food." Ruffnut said, pushing his bread closer to him. Patch sighed and slowly nibbled on it. Guards circled around the tables like vultures, waiting for someone to mess up or break down.

Hendorous walked into the building and stood in the middle of the room, "Hello, demons. As you all know, you are here to be punished for your unspeakable crimes against Vikings. You have been sent here so that your tribes may have a better future. Without you they probably have more food and more order, your _siblings_ will have more energy and spirit. But most importantly, I'm taking away one threat to civilization at a time." Hendorous said this as if he was winning an award. But Ruffnut guesses seeing all of their miserable faces was prize enough.

Patch whimpered and scooted closer to Ruffnut. The small boy was covering his ears, trying to block out the man's horrible words. Guards shook their heads and began to go to the doors, pulling them open for the prisoners to get out.

Men, women, and children all marched to the door. Dread written all over their faces as the marched into the yard. They once again formed their formations outside, Ruffnut and Patch following quickly behind. Skullrider came up beside them and whispered, "They take attendance two times day to make sure no one escapes. Rather barbaric really."

Once again Hendorous went down the line, calling out numbers to be either answered with , "Here!" or the raise of a hand. When that was over they marched to their cells and were locked up once again. Surrounded by darkness as the doors slammed shut.

* * *

The gang finally reached a nearby island after hours of flying and getting lost. They hopped off to come face to face with another group with dragons, only they were a bunch of men.

"Why do you come here?" The biggest one asked. His violet eyes gleamed in contrast to his bright white hair.

"We're trying to find his twin sister. She was kidnapped by a man named Hendorous, do you know him?" Hiccup asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"That's what we're doing. He stole my brother, that bastard." Another man growled. This one had gray/blue eyes, and light brown hair.

"Well...The more the merrier I guess..."

"It would be if this was a different situation."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, but my life has been hell right now. I'm trying to help my friend who has recently taken up cutting meanwhile I'm having family problems and on top of all of that I have school work and tests. My grades have recently been dropping due to stress, but writing stories help me a lot.**

**Review is you want.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey. I know some people have been waiting for this story to be updated, and I don't have any excuses for making you wait this long. I know that typing up an apology won't make up for the time you guys have spent waiting for this chapter, but I hope that making this chapter about twice as long as the others will make up for it. I'm really, really, really sorry you guys have been waiting for so long and I truly hope that you will enjoy the rest of this chapter. I will try to the very best of my ability to update at least once a week. Once again, I'm sorry for the wait and please, enjoy this chapter of Doppelganger.**

**Disclaimer: Nope.**

* * *

"Ruffnut?"

Ruffnut groaned, slowly blinking open her tired eyes. She looked down at Patch, who had apparently fallen asleep sprawled across her lap, and asked, "Hey...What's wrong little guy?"

She couldn't see anything in the darkness of the cell, but she felt him hesitantly sit up and squeak, "Are we...Going to die?"

Ruffnut blinked, staring in his general direction with a dumbstruck expression. Scrunching her eyebrows, she replied, "What in the hell gave you that idea?"

"B-Because...I h-heard people t-talking about how...W-When you got too tired or if you g-got sick...T-They took you somewhere t-to..." Patch whimpered, unable to finish.

The blond sighed, blindly reaching out and putting her hand on Patch's shoulder.

"Look. I know it might seem like we're...Well...Screwed. But, you can't give up. Remember that boy I told you about? That boy, Hiccup, who saved as from the giant dragon?"

Patch sniffled, "Y-Yeah?"

"Well, he was very brave. Every day, kids would pick on him, yell at him, push him around. I admit, I was one of the people who would tease him, too. But, he never let any of us stop him from helping that dragon. He never gave up on trying to get stronger and be like his father. If he had given up, we would still be getting attacked," Ruffnut said, keeping her voice quiet and gentle, "And, right now, we can't give up either. Right now, Hendorous is that giant, ugly dragon."

"S-So...Doe that make me and you...H-Hiccup?" Patch asked, rubbing his eye.

Ruffnut leaned back a bit, before answering with a small smile, "I...I guess it does. So that means, you and I have to stick together. We have to not let ourselves be hurt by Hendorous."

Patch sniffed one last time, before laying down across Ruffnut's legs once more, "S-So...We're not going to die?"

"As long as we stick together, we won't."

"Right you are girl," Skullrider said from down the hall, "We can't lose hope. Hendorous must pay for what he has done."

Just then, the door to the hall banged open.

"Rise and shine, ingrates!" Came the sickeningly familiar voice. Ruffnut heard inmates start to growl and snarl as Hendorous stalked passed all of their cages, though his bloody eyes remained indifferent.

"Today, we're taking a field trip. It appears you _siblings_ are searching for your whereabouts," The evil man shook his head in disgust, "You demons have tricked them into actually caring about your well beings...However, the longer you're all away from them, they'll be able to snap out of their trances and hopefully live a fulfilling life without you all leaching on them."

Hendorous smirked as the prisoners turned quiet, all of them glowering at him with all their might.

Suddenly an old, weary voice spoke up, "You are the true demon."

Raising his eyebrows, Hendorous turned his hate filled gaze to a cage two cells down from Ruffnut. An old man, covered in filth and blood, shakily stood and said, "You are the one who's ruining their lives. We will never bow to someone as cruel and demented as you."

"Ah, so you believe that forcing your so called families to suffer is fine?"

"You're insane! You're the one who forcing our families to suffer! You're the one who is trying to satisfy himself by using his hatred for his sister to torture all of us!"

Hendorous's eyes narrowed, his smirk instantly vanishing from his face. The old man continued as if there was no change, "You don't want to help them...You don't want to help anyone! All you want is to make us suffer like you wished your sister would all those years! You want us to rot and die; you want our families to mourn and break apart. You want us to feel the betrayal and anger you did when you were ordered to share chief hood with your sister! When she gave birth to Frostbite!"

"Silence!" Hendorous growled, quickly striding forward and glaring at the man through the bars of his cell. Ruffnut watched the exchange in fascination, Patch curled into her side frighteningly at her side.

"You call us pathetic, yet you're the one who has to use and kill innocent people just to feel some sort of fulfillment. You're not the hero you're imagining yourself to be. Your sister was always more suited to chief hood than you were."

"I told you to shut up!" Hendorous snarled, banging his fists on the bars of the cell. The guards stepped forward, waiting for an order.

"You're nothing but a broken man with broken mind," The old man said, staring at Hendorous as if he was less than nothing, "And now, you've done something that no matter what happens, you will fall in the end."

Hendorous stared at the man for a moment, his bloody eyes holding hidden frustration. Finally, he straightened up and said, "Take him to the oven."

Ruffnut watched in growing fear as the guards stepped forward, slammed open the cage, and dragged the man out. The elder said nothing as he was carried out of the hall for one, final time.

Hendorous stood there for a minute, staring at the ground with an indifferent look. Finally, he turned his head and said, "All of you...We're leaving for Strazio."

"That's on the other side of the island!" A woman shrieked, shaking the bars of her cage in anger.

Hendorous continued as if she had never spoken, "You are to walk on foot to the new camp. No food, no water. Do not stray from the group and do not rest unless we instruct you to do so. Anyone caught breaking the rules will be punished. We are skipping role call for today, we have little time."

The rest of the guards went down the isle, opening the cages and forcing the occupants out. Ruffnut let out a gasp as her shirt was harshly grabbed and she was thrown out onto the floor. Patch thrown out as well, although he managed to land on his feet.

The teenaged girl hurriedly grabbed the little boy's hand and guided him out of the hall behind herself. She quickly got into the giant line of prisoners, picking up Patch to protect him from the guards who stood on either side of the line with menacing whips.

Ruffnut looked down at Patch quivering in her arms, fully taking in his features. There were small tufts of light orange hair that Striker had missed while shaving his hair. His face and body was dotted with freckles. He looked up at Ruffnut with baby blue eyes that had a tiny bit green in the middle of them. In a terrified whisper, he asked, "S-Strazio isn't that f-far, r-right?"

"It can't be," Ruffnut tried to reassure him, though she was nervous herself. Looking ahead, she managed to spot Skullrider trudging along. She ran up to him, managing to catch up easily.

Skullrider's face was tattooed to look like a skull, a fierce scar carved into his left cheek. His bald head was turning a bit dark from where his brown hair was beginning to grow back. His gray-blue eyes stared emotionlessly ahead.

"Skullrider?" The man grunted in response. Ruffnut swallowed thickly, before asking, "What's the oven?"

Skullrider stopped walking for a moment, then he looked at her and said, "Just pray you don't have to go there."

That was all Ruffnut needed to know.

* * *

"So, what are your names?" Hiccup asked, putting more wood aside for the fire.

"My name is Toxen and he is Stormrider," The blond brute replied, "We've been searching for weeks to find his brother. Hendorous took him only a month after we visited Icelberg."

"Why were you there if you knew about Hendorous?" Snotlout asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"We didn't know he would go after Skullrider!" Stormrider growled, slamming down his hammer, "All we knew was that he was some psychopath who had a problem with his sister! That's it! The end! Do you seriously think I would've allowed us to visit there if I knew he was going to get taken and possibly killed?!"

"N-No! Not at all!" Snotlout said with a nervous laugh.

Toxen put a hand on Stormrider's shoulder and said, "Now that we know Hendorous isn't on Icelberg, we've been searching for the island the elder told us about. But, there's a possibility that if Hendorous can move prisoners from Icelberg to Lavatria in such a short amount of time, he could very well be moving them to another island as we speak."

Tuffnut glared at the ground, but didn't say anything. He felt frustrated that not only Ruffnut wasn't in Icelberg, she could be anywhere. She could've been moved to Lavatria days ago and was...Gods know where!

"Well, first things first, we've got to at least check Lavatria," Astrid said, her voice filled with confidence although her eyes were anxious.

Hiccup turned and looked to Tuffnut, "Don't worry, Tuff, we will find her."

Tuffnut nodded, "I know we will."

* * *

Ruffnut winced as she heard another thud behind her. They've been walking for hours while Hendorous and the guards were on their dragons, either riding them behind them or flying above them. Many people had been killed already, almost a fourth of the prisoners gone. Almost all of the children and elderly were dead. Ruffnut managed to convince Patch to keep walking, although she sometimes had to pick him up when he got too tired.

Everything ached. Her headache pounded against her skull from dehydration, her legs wobbling from walking. She started to stumble a bit, but managed to keep herself upright with the knowledge she could be killed if she fell. Patch watched her with concern, holding her hand tightly every time she stumble or slowed down.

Finally, Hendorous landed in front of the line, his dragon curling its lips to show off its horrifying, black teeth. In a booming voice, Hendorous called out, "We will rest for ten minutes. Anyone not up and walking when we give the order will be punished."

With a collective sigh, everyone dropped to the ground. Normally, vikings like themselves would be able to do this much walking no problem. But, they were malnourished, overworked, and none of them had the proper amount of sleep. So, in other words, they were ready to pass out.

Ruffnut watched closely as Hendorous called over a guard and whispered something into his ear. The guard nodded before hopping onto his dragon and disappearing into the sky.

"What do you think they were talking about?" Patch whispered, sitting in Ruffnut's lap. Before she could answer, a young man crawled over to them. His white hair has almost completely grown back, his golden eyes

"Hendorous ordered him to take a few guards and make sure we aren't being followed. They were also ordered to patrol the outer limits of Lavatria territories to ward off anyone who might be looking for us," The man said in a strange accent.

"How...How do you know?" Ruffnut asked.

The man gave a small smile, his eyelids drooping tiredly as he said, "I've visited the island those guards are from. Their elder taught me the language, while my sister learned how to battle from the chief. My brother and I are travelers, you see. Much like Skullrider and his twin. Ah, I remember always holding a grudge against my sister for being more athletic than myself...Now...I wish for nothing more than to just hug her one last time..."

"B-But...if you were close with their elder and chief...Why aren't they listening to you? Why are they listening to Hendorous?" Ruffnut asked, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"They probably don't remember me. My last visit to their island was ten years ago, when I was still a young boy. As for Hendorous..." The man sighed wearily, "Hendorous killed their chief and their elder. He killed the two people who led their village. They fear him. They witnessed him drop their chief's lifeless body to the ground, then he order his dragon to murder their elder. They were afraid of his power and reluctantly agreed to assist with his horrible plan as long as he didn't kill any more of their people."

"But their killing other people's people!" Patch squeaked, his baby blue eyes filling with tears.

"I know, lad...But it seems that they are too concerned for their own people to care. Those without guidance, often get lost," The man murmured thoughtfully. Slowly, he started to back up to crawl away.

"H-Hey!" Ruffnut said, "What's your name?"

"Nytrous. And, what's yours?" The man said, holding out a thin hand.

Ruffnut shook as she replied, "I'm Ruffnut."

"I'm Patch!" The little boy piped up from her lap.

"Nice to meet you," Nytrous chuckled as Patch enthusiastically shook his hand.

"Alright! Everybody up!" Hendorous called, taking to the sky once more.

"No way that was ten minutes," Ruffnut grumbled, getting to her feet.

Nytrous chuckled, "He was never known for being honest now was he?"

With an indignant huff, Ruffnut began to walk once more, Patch right at her side.

* * *

"Hey, why's Stormrider over there?" Fishlegs asked, taking a bite out of his salmon.

Toxen looked over to Stormrider, who had isolated himself in the tent, then turned to the group, sighing, "He's been sulking since his brother was taken. Your friend, eh...Tuffnut? He's been depressed too?"

"I'm not depressed!" Tuffnut huffed, throwing his chicken bone into the fire. He stomped off, violently throwing open his bag to find a blanket.

"He's just mad 'cause we don't know where Ruffnut is or whether or not she's alive," Snotlout said insensitively.

Tuffnut stopped unpacking, his body going rigid. He then turned and growled, "I know Ruffnut is alive. I may not know where she is, but I sure that she is alive."

With that he took Ruffut's blanket, wrapped it around himself, hopped onto his dragon's stomach and closed his eyes.

Snotlout rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever."

Astrid glared at him, "Can you honestly say that you're not worried in the slightest?"

"I was just saying what was making him on edge. It's obvious Ruffnut's still alive. What's there to worry about?"

"How are you so certain that nothing's happened?" Astrid pressed.

Snotlout shrugged and replied, "I just do."

"_Sure_."

Hiccup rolled his eyes at the exchange, then turned to Toxen, "Do you know if there's anyway to get to Lavatria faster?"

"Well, I've been around this area a few times, and I think I found a way. You see this island?" Toxen said, pointing at one of the blobs on the map. Hiccup nodded and he continued, "Well, if we fly over that island instead of going this route, then we may be able to make it to Lavatria by...Tomorrow night, possibly?"

"Great! Let's head out first thing in the morning!" Hiccup declared, folding up the map. Toxen grinned, nodding in agreement.

Tuffnut curled in tighter to himself. The faster he found his sister, the better.

* * *

"Alright! We're resting here for the night! Be prepared to continue traveling at dawn! Anyone not on their feet and moving, will be punished!" Hendorous snarled down at him.

Ruffnut glared up at him suspiciously before leading Patch over to a nearby tree and sitting down against it. The little boy crawled hesitantly into her lap, tucked his head under her chin, and closed his eyes.

Nytrous came and sat down beside her, looking down at Patch sympathetically.

"So young...Far too young to experience horrors such as this," He said.

Ruffnut let out a humorless chuckle, "No one should have to go through this."

"True," Nytrou said, looking at a slumbering group of elders, "Very true..."

"Why is he letting us rest? Why not force us to travel through the night too?" Ruffnut asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Nytrous sighed, "Because if we did that, there would only be twenty or thirty prisoners by morning."

"Doesn't he want that? For all of us to die?"

"Well...Yes, but he also wants us to suffer. Suffer for our 'crimes' against mankind."

Ruffnut opened her mouth to reply, but Nytrous shook his head, "Best not to dwell on something we have no power over. Now, get some rest. We have a _long_ day ahead of us."

With a reluctant sigh, Ruffnut scooted down a bit, closed her eyes, and fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so it wasn't _very_ long, but it's still something. Thank you to all of those who encouraged me to continue this. I very greatly appreciate it. Please tell me what you think and hopefully the next chapter will be up by next week. See ya.  
**

**Reviews = Magical~!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:...Enjoy! :D (And please don't kill me.)**

* * *

"È ora di alzarsi, si selvaggi sporchi!" One of the guards bellowed, his purple dragon roaring for emphasis. The prisoners groaned, but instantly got up. Some of the elders still sat, trying to relish the cooling sensation of the wet mud before beginning their travels once more.

"Hey!" Hendorous shouted, directed his dragon over to them. "What did I say? Get up, or get punished!"

One or two of the elders stood up, but the rest remained seated, their hearing far to weak to hear the furious yells of the chief. With a scowl, Hendorous took out a knife, aimed, then threw it. The knife went down fast, slicing through the wind, plunging itself into an old man's back. The elder cried out, falling forward with a thud as his shirt began turning crimson. With a hideous smile, Hendorous watched as the elders all scrambled up, looking at their fallen friend in despair.

"Right then. Let's get moving!" The foul man ordered, soaring forward to lead the group. Ruffnut took one long glance at the man, debating with herself over whether or not to help him.

Just as she took a step toward him, Nytrous whispered in her ear, "Don't...He's already gone."

With a sorrowful frown, Ruffnut began marching along with the large group of prisoners. She allowed Patch to cling to her hand, squeezing it so hard that her fingers turned purple. With a sad, but assuring, smile, she said, "It'll be alright, little guy. Just think of it as...A really long nature hike."

Patch looked up at her with watery, blue eyes, obviously not believing her, but he nodded all the same. Nytrous was right, he was far too young to experience the horrors of this torture camp. All of the other prisoners were fierce vikings, trained in battle. He was just a little boy, just starting to discover the wonders of life and the beauty it holds.

But, how could you possibly find beauty or wonder in this?

* * *

"Do you know if there's any possible way we could get there quicker?" Tuffnut asked, looking skeptically at the distance between Lavatria and Berk. Toxen sighed, looking at the twin's distress and rather frustrated face.

With a gentle voice, he answered, "It seems that is the only way."

"We'll get there before nightfall, too," Stormrider drawled, finally emerging from his tent. Holding up a few papers with complicated swirls and markings, he explained, "My brother liked to study wind patterns, mostly to wind bets at the dragon races. He wanted to teach me, but I told him that wind was of no use to vikings other than to blow our hair back. But...Turns out, if we take our decided course, we should be able to hit a jet stream that will speed us up, having us arrive at the island within only two hours."

"Alright, gang," Hiccup said, hooking his foot into Toothless' saddle. "We've got an island to find."

* * *

Ruffnut panted, her legs shaking from exhaustion. Her stomach jolted her body with a current of pain every other second. Patch could only watch fearfully from beside her as the teenager's strength slowly depleted. Shaking slightly, the little boy whimpered, "Come on, Ruffy, we gotta stick together, 'member? We're Hiccup, facing the big, old, stinky dragon, Hendorous."

Ruffnut offered him a shaky smile, "I know, Patch. We're going to be the Hiccups of this entire hellhole, if I have anything to say about it."

The boy giggled, looking at Ruffnut with an adoring gaze. The blond looked up to the sky, watching as the guards visibly became more and more tense, constantly reporting to Hendorous. The heinous leader would snap at them every time, sending them off into the skies once more.

"Their dragons are smelling search parties," Nytrous muttered, looking up at the guards' panicked flights. Ruffnut's eyes shined with hope, feeling herself get excited at the thought of her brother getting so close to finding her. Nytrous looked at her with a sympathetic gaze, and said, "I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you, if one guard is beaten, there's at least ten more to fill his place. For now...Just keep marching, and look at for yourself."

Then, the white-haired man disappeared into the crowd of dying prisoners. Ruffnut blinked, looking down at Patch to see him looking at his feet, splashing in some puddles. She smirked, jumping up and splashing into one herself, getting some of the muddy water onto the little boy.

"Hey!" Patch giggled, splashing some water at Ruffnut. The teen laughed, dodging the water narrowly. The silliness gave her strength and hope. It helped her see the joy in life once more.

It gave her courage to pull through this torturous time in her life.

* * *

The dragons were slicing through the air with amazing speed, all of the riders grinning and snickering at their good fortune. Soon, they were able to catch sight of an island up ahead. It was easy to see its volcanoes and its dark, ash ridden sand. Stormrider's smirk turned practically maniacal as he turned and bellowed, "There she is!"

Tuffnut let out a victorious shout, his dragon roaring happily in triumph. However, this happiness did not stay long. For, out of the blue, came a giant, scarlet fireball, just narrowly missing Toxen. All of the riders looked up to see a group of six vicious, exotic dragons being ridden by a race of people they had never seen the likes of before.

Letting loose a fierce battle cry, the warriors dived and shot fire at the smaller group of riders. The teens swerved away, but Toxen and Stormrider held their ground. Their dragons snarled, pulling out their claws, ready to snag the enemy on them. The warriors started pulling out bows and shot arrows at the group, narrowly missing the vikings' heads.

"Guys! We have to go back and help them!" Hiccup called, stopping Toothless from going any farther.

Astrid turned, seeing a guard flying above Hiccup and then diving. In a strangled voice, she screeched, "Hiccup!"

A fierce roar pierced the sky.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this is so short and sorry for any mistakes. I'm sort of sick and half comatose at the moment.**


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